A cheap drug that has been around for 30 years, known as naltrexone, may be the latest answer to Fibromyalgia pain sufferers. Researchers at Stanford University have reported that a small study using naltrexone, typically a prescription used to treat drug addiction, reduced Fibromyalgia pain by as much as 30% more than a placebo.
These results were based on a study that was done on 10 female participants for a total of 14 weeks. All of the participants were given naltrexone part of the time and a placebo part of the time but they didn’t know which they were getting when.
Study author, Dr. Sean Mackey, said of the research:
“Patients’ reactions were really quite profound. Some people decided to come off other medications. Some people went back to work really improving their quality of life.”
If larger studies are done on naltrexone, and it is eventually approved for the treatment of Fibromyalgia, the cost would only run patients around $40 a month – considerably cheaper than the few other FDA approved Fibromyalgia drugs.
Personally, with the study only including 10 female participants, I feel this “news” might be a little premature and a larger study should have been done or the results shouldn’t have been made public until a larger study was done. With only 10 study participants, I think it’s way too early to get excited.
the best help i have found for fibromyalgia is to follow ” the yeast connection” diet. eliminate sugars , sweets , breads and pasta. use sourdough bread in place of other bread. nystatin is the drug for yeast problems. candida cure in health food stores helps. there may also be sensitivity to some preservatives in boxed cereals like o’s. cereal for breakfast must be eliminated too. i found eggs or haddock for breakfast helps iy people stay on a strict diet for a few months they should get great relief.lookup molds , fungi and yeasts and follow that path . the yeast connection diet will help you . —–alice in pa.
I know you might think the “news is premature” but the drug Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN) has been used for quite a few years to treat multiple sclerosis, crohn’s disease (there was a large double blind study of LDN for that specific illness).
The news isn’t premature so much as it has been a long time coming. Because it is no longer an expensive drug, there isn’t much incentive to spend millions doing the larger studies you are waiting for.
I’ve found a doctor that is willing to prescribe LDN and am going to give it a try. None of the “approved drugs” (nor all the off-label drugs I’ve tried) have helped, with the exception (ironically) of opioid drugs. And what I go through to get those (and deal with the perception) is just getting old. I’m hoping for the best…
Hi Kathy! Thank you for the information. I hope that LDN works for you! Take care.